Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity
by seeleybaby
Summary: Brennan calls Booth with an Emergency. Kind of angsty, but three potential happy endings :
1. Chapter 1

This story is from a challenge over on the Boneyard. Booth+Brennan+a puppy, but no Parker allowed...

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"Booth" he barked into his phone

"Booth" he barked into his phone, pulling onto his street. What a day. He could not wait to get home and forget about it.  
"Booth, it's me…I have an emergency."  
"Bones? Where are you?" He flipped on his siren, ready.  
"I'm at my house. Please Booth. I need you."

"Okay, Bones. I'll be right there."

He closed his phone and picked up the radio. "Dispatch, 22705."  
"Read you 22705"

"Request for backup at 25 Elmworth."  
"Received 22705."

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Booth raced there, and pulled into her driveway, glad to see the EMT right behind him, also thankful there were no flames, at least not visible. He didn't want to wait for the elevator, so he pulled out his gun and conquered the stairs, two at a time. He got to her door to see it closed, and without hesitation, raised his foot and kicked it in.

"BONES!"

She was sitting in the middle of the floor of her living room, looking at a box.

"Get back Bones." He pointed his gun toward the suspicious package.  
"Booth…stop, what are you doing?" She stood between him and the box.  
"What? What? Bones…get out of the line of fire."

"Booth…stop."

The EMTs rushed in and quickly ran to her, one of them running his hands down her arms to check for injuries.  
"Booth…please."  
"Stand back, team."  
He looked at her.

"What the hell, Bones?"

She could see he was steamed.

"What do you mean, Booth?"

"Well, you said you had an emergency."

"Oh."

"Yeah, oh…so I called for backup, and sped here, AND ran up the steps, and…" he stopped as he noticed the previously offending box scoot an inch across the floor. "What is that Bones?"

"It was outside my door when I got home."

He stretched out his arms, gun cocked as he moved closer to it. Very carefully, with one foot, he inched the lid off the box.

"You've got to be kidding me, Bones."

He was as angry as she'd ever heard him, somehow cold and fired up at the same time. She stayed quiet.

He turned and looked toward the EMT.

"I'm sorry, you are free to go." He walked them to the door, and shut it, as best he could, now that the lock was busted. He stood facing the door for a couple of moments, trying to cool off before turning to face her, pressing his hand against it, trying to force tension into it.

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She could almost feel the rage rolling off of him in heated waves, and she wisely continued to keep silent.

"Bones…" his voice a cool steel in contrast to the tension in his shoulders. "Do you have any idea what a waste of resources that was?" He took a deep breath. "Those EMTs could have turned down another call to be here."  
"You're the one who called them, Booth, not me."

He whirled around and stalked over to her, coming close enough to cup her chin in his hand, lifting her eyes to his.

"You called me Bones…you said you had an emergency, and…you needed me."

"Booth…" she whispered. "You're hurting me" she continued through clenched teeth, the result of his intense reaction.

He released her immediately and turned away from her, trying to breathe deeply. He heard her take a step back, then another.

"I'm sorry, Bones. I didn't mean to hurt you." He couldn't look at her though.

"I know." She'd just experienced firsthand the full force of the righteous anger of Seeley Booth, and it had stunned her. She had seen it displayed toward others, both for good and in revenge, but she'd never had it turned toward her, and she wasn't sure how she felt about it. She took a deep breath. "I'm sorry I wasted the time of the EMT. I would never want to do that."

He ran a hand through his hair, keeping his back to her. "I know, Bones."

After a couple of minutes, she took a step closer to him. "Will you look at me, please?"  
He turned and she was surprised to see anger and shame and pain in his eyes.

She took another step toward him, putting her close to his body, but not touching.

His jaw clenched, and she reached up her hand to cup it. He jerked his head back. "Too much" he rasped, leaving her hand in mid air until she placed it against his face again, this time, not letting him pull back. He closed his eyes against this emotion.

"Booth…I'm so sorry." She whispered.

He opened his eyes and she could see that he was embarrassed. Embarrassed that he'd basically torn the town apart to 'save' her from a tiny puppy in a box. She moved her other hand to the other side of his face.

"Thank you, Booth."

He pressed his forehead to hers, sending thoughts from his brain to hers. He'd thought she was dying or being attacked or…even his thoughts couldn't describe what emotions he'd felt at the sound of her voice on the phone. He moved his arms to her shoulders, steadying her, and she realized she'd been shaking from the adrenaline.

They stayed like this for a few moments until he thought he could handle it.  
"What happened, Bones?"

"Well, I got home, and…today was bad, you know?"

"Yeah." Another domestic case they'd solved, where even the 'victory' usually meant pain for almost everyone involved.

"And well, when I got home, there was this box outside my door. I brought it in, and put on gloves, and opened it up."

Booth removed his hands from her shoulders and walked toward the box. Bending over, he picked up the tiny pug.

Brennan stared at the way the now sleeping puppy fit perfectly in the palms of his hands.

"This is an emergency?"

"Booth…I've never had a dog before, I didn't know what to do, so…"

"You called me."

"Yes" Now she was the one embarrassed by her reaction. She turned away from the sight of him, now a tender image, but still intense. "I'm sorry, Booth."

He walked toward her couch and sat down, then looked up, his eyes encouraging her to join him.

She sat next to him, facing him with her legs underneath her.

Now that she was close, he couldn't quite meet her eyes, and he turned back toward the sleeping pug.

"Bones…"

She took a deep breath at the uncertainty in his voice. "I know, Booth."

She did know. They were both scared of the depth of emotion they'd felt. But like a moth to a flame, she was unable to resist his heat, his intensity. She was only sorry to have worried him, and, she was embarrassed to have used up the valuable time of the emergency response team.

"Booth, do you want me to file a report with the EMT tomorrow?" She could at least do that for him.  
"No, I'll take care of it." He sighed, his eyes on the puppy.

And that was it. She knew.

"I love you" she whispered.

His eyes, dark with confusion, flew to hers.

"What?"

She could feel her face flaming, and she couldn't get the words past her throat. He was holding that puppy in the palms of his hands as if he held her heart, and…she couldn't speak for the emotion choking her. This man, a man who had kicked down the thick door to her apartment had also busted through the door to her heart, and…she loved him.

"I love you" she repeated.

He couldn't speak, she could see. It was still too much, and that was okay. She moved her head to rest on his shoulder, settling her body next to his sitting one, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Never in her wildest imagination would she have imagined that she'd be the first to tell him she loved him. She'd always imagined that he would say it to her, she'd dreaded it actually, because she'd never been sure of how she felt, and, she knew, she'd known that if he'd told her he loved her, and she hadn't been able to return the sentiment, that it might have destroyed them.

They both sat silently for awhile, until the tiny puppy rolled over in Booth's hands, stretching, his tongue slipping out in search of something.

Brennan reached out with her hand and rubbed its head.

"It's okay" she soothed.

Booth caught her fingers in his and squeezed them together and sighed.  
"Yes." His voice deep with emotion, "Everything's going to be okay."

He placed a kiss to the top of her head, then moved them so they were laying on her couch, her back to his chest, the puppy, now awake, sitting on her, looking at them.

Booth wrapped his arms around her and moved two fingers to lightly stroke the puppy's head, encouraging him to fall back to sleep on her chest. The puppy whimpered a bit, but soon relaxed, his tiny weight against her heart.

"Booth…"  
"Shhh…go to sleep. We'll talk tomorrow."

She pulled his hands into hers.

"Okay, Booth. Tomorrow."  
"Yes, Bones. I'll be here." She closed her eyes as his words washed over her. "I'll be here."

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Okay, so the next three chapters are alternate scenarios to what happens next. I couldn't decide which one I liked best, so I'm posting all three. Let me know which one you like best!


	2. Chapter 2

Booth woke up to find her turned toward him. Bones.

Her hands were curled in his shirt, her nose pressed to his throat. He realized his arms were still around her and it took him a moment to fully remember the previous night. He could feel a memory niggling in the back of his mind, and he closed his eyes to try and recall it. His foot was itchy, almost tickly, and he moved his other big toe to try and scratch it. He heard a small growl and his eyes popped open to see a tiny pug sitting on the arm of the couch, his tiny tongue poised near the sole of his foot. Ah yes, the puppy.

Just then the puppy raised one of its back legs and Booth sprang into action.

"Oh…no…"  
He snatched it up as quickly as he could and ran toward the kitchen, leaving behind a trail of squirming puppy drips. At least it wasn't on the couch. He grabbed a couple of paper towels and set the puppy back in the original box while he wiped up the hardwood floor.

When he was done, he looked back toward the couch, seeing that his partner was still sleeping, her face now pressed to the couch, her arms holding nothing. He sighed and took a step back. This was still too much. He walked into the kitchen and threw away the paper towels, feeling like he was trapped. He'd said he would stay, but…

He walked back toward her front door and noticed the puppy moving against the confines of the box.

"I know how you feel buddy." He took another look toward the couch and walked out the door.

Brennan woke to the sound of whimpering and scratching. What? Why was she on the couch? Disoriented, she pulled herself up to look over the back of the couch and could see the cardboard box practically rocking from the force of the puppy inside. She got up and looked around, confused. Where was Booth? She could see his FBI badge and his keys on the table, so she knew he couldn't have gone too far. She moved over to the box and picked the puppy out of it, examining it. She really did not have time for a puppy.

Booth sat in his SUV, his forehead against his arm on the steering wheel. He didn't have his keys, so he couldn't go anywhere. Not that he wanted to. Well…50 of him wanted to run immediately, the other 50 wanted to never leave, ever.

She loved him?

This isn't how Booth imagined it. He never imagined she'd be the one to express her feelings first. Of course, it was possible she didn't mean it the way he'd originally thought. She wasn't in love with him. Maybe she meant she loved him like she loved her job or…yeah, that was probably it. She loved him in a general way. Like people say when they love things like ice cream or a favorite hockey team. He leaned his head back against the headrest and closed his eyes.

'I love you'… 'I love you' Hmmm, she had said it twice; the first time in a surprised whisper, but the second time more sure, with more confidence.

He was interrupted by the sound of the passenger door opening. He looked over to see her, holding the box with the puppy, a small blue envelope in her hand.

"Hi"

"Hi"

She reached into her pocket and pulled out his keys, handing them to him, letting him know he could leave if he wanted. He put them in the ignition, but didn't turn it, instead, turning toward her and reaching for the box.

"Get in, Bones."

She did, still holding the envelope. He could see that she'd opened it.

"Did you see this?" she asked.

He shook his head. "Where was it?"

"Taped to the lid of the box." She opened it again and read it to him.

"To our grandson, Corey on his 9th birthday. We love you. Grandma and Grandpa."

His eyebrows rose. "Who is Corey?"

"I have no idea, Booth."

He turned back to look ahead. "So this whole thing was a big mistake?"

She flinched and he could see that he'd shocked her.

"Bones, last night…."

She sat there, waiting.

He smiled and sighed, wondering why he'd thought this time would be any different. Any other woman would have picked up on his nervousness and bailed him out, but Bones?...

"Bones, last night…what you said…well…Bones, last night was intense, and I don't want to hold you to anything you may not have meant."

She started. "Booth…"

"It's alright, Bones. I know you didn't mean you were in love with me, just you know, that you care about me, as a partner."

He looked at her finally and could see the furrow in her brow. She looked down and pulled his badge from her pocket, her finger rubbing over the insignia on the front.

"Fidelity, Bravery, Integrity" she spoke.

He sat silently, not feeling he measured up to any part of the FBI motto. He looked over to her and could see a small scratch on her chin where he'd grabbed her in anger. Disgusted with himself, he closed his eyes and laid his head back on the steering wheel.

"Booth, I'm not good at this stuff."

He smiled. "I know Bones. I know you didn't mean it. I get it." He muffled into his hands.

"No, Booth, you don't. I…will you please look at me?"

She waited until he turned his face to look at hers.

"Booth…I meant it…I love you."

"Bones, I know."

"No, Booth…I'm in love with you."

"Bones, how can you say that? I practically destroyed your door and grabbed you…I scratched your face, Bones, and then…"

She moved her hand to his arm then pulled his badge between them. "You are brave, and you have integrity, you know, you keep your word. You stayed Booth, even when you didn't want to. Fidelity."

"Bones…"

"Booth…you ask me how I can be in love with you. I don't know. I just know it's the truth. I'm in love with you.

He placed his other hand on hers, covering it, looking into her eyes. They were clear and he was convinced. He knew she loved the truth.

"Bones…I'm in love with you, too. I thought…I thought you were being attacked." The emotions he'd felt came rushing back and his hand tightened on hers.

"Shhh… I know, Booth." She moved her hand to cup his face again, like she had the night before, this time moving her lips to brush against his.

He cupped the back of her head and kissed her, pouring his fear and anger and love, all his love, into her.

After several moments the cardboard box between them was practically vibrating with the force of the puppy's anxiety.

She smiled and pulled back.

"You're wrong, Bones." Booth smiled.

"What?"

"You are good at this stuff." He teased.

She smiled and leaned back. "Well, will you come back up? Help me figure out who Corey is?" She picked up the box.

"Yeah, sure." He grabbed his keys and got out, following her up the steps to her apartment building. Just as they were getting off the elevator on her floor, they almost ran into a couple getting ready to tape a sign to the elevator door.

"Hi." Booth nodded politely.

"Booth…wait."

"What, Bones?"

"Look…" There was a poster on the wall with a picture of the puppy, saying he was missing.

Booth whirled around.

"Wait" He pressed his arm into the elevator to keep it from closing. "Wait. We have your puppy."

The couple was shocked. "How is that possible?"

Brennan held up the blue envelope. "It was outside my door last night, but I didn't see the card until this morning. Are you Corey?"

Booth looked at her. "Um, Bones? Corey is 9 years old, remember? These are probably his grandparents."

They smiled.

"Yes…we've never been here, so we must have put the box outside the wrong door. We wanted to surprise him, and we were the ones who were surprised when he didn't say anything about it this morning when we saw him."

"I'm sorry" Brennan told them, handing them over the box.

"No, no" the woman insisted. "We're the ones who are sorry. This whole thing was a big mistake."

Booth pressed his hand to Brennan's back.

"Well, I wouldn't say that." He smiled.


	3. Chapter 3

It's like Wayne's World. or Clue...three endings! They all three start with the same stuff, so, be warned of that :)

seels

Booth woke up to find her turned toward him. Bones.

Her hands were curled in his shirt, her nose pressed to his throat. He realized his arms were still around her and it took him a moment to fully remember the previous night. He could feel a memory niggling in the back of his mind, and he closed his eyes to try and recall it. His foot was itchy, almost tickly, and he moved his other big toe to try and scratch it. He heard a small growl and his eyes popped open to see a tiny pug sitting on the arm of the couch, his tiny tongue poised near the sole of his foot. Ah yes, the puppy.

Booth looked at it for a moment trying to decide his next course of action. He liked the comfort of this moment with her, liked the way she was sleeping close to him. He could stay like this forever…

Just then the puppy raised one of its back legs and Booth sprang into action.

"Oh…no…"  
He snatched it up as quickly as he could and ran toward the kitchen, leaving behind a trail of squirming puppy drips. At least it wasn't on the couch. He grabbed a couple of paper towels and set the puppy back in the original box while he wiped up the hardwood floor.

"Booth?"

He stood and looked over toward the couch. His quick movements had pushed her off of it, and now she was awake and lying on the floor, staring at the ceiling.

"Uh, hey, Bones. Just cleaning up a little doggy emergency."

"Oh."

He picked up the box and grabbed the lid and carried them both to the floor by her couch. He helped her up and they sat down, now neither sure how to proceed.

"Booth, what is that?"

"What?"

"There, on the lid?"

He turned, and taped to the inside of the box's lid was a small, blue envelope. He looked at her and she nodded. He pulled the envelope off the lid and opened it.

"Oh…" he seemed surprised.

"What?"

"It's from your dad."

"What?" She was shocked.

"It says, 'Hi Sweetheart. I don't know if we ever told you, but I gave your mom a puppy just like this on our first Christmas. Anyways, when I saw this little guy at the store, well, I couldn't resist.' His voice trailed off as she leaned over to pull the puppy out of the box. She pulled the dog up to her face, looking into its eyes as if she could somehow catch a glimpse of this past life her father mentioned.

His lips parted, "I love you"

Her eyes flew to meet his.

"Um…that's what it says next." He glanced back down to the paper clutched in his hand.

"It says, I love you. Merry Christmas. Love, Dad." He swallowed.

"Oh…"

She could see his tongue pressing against the inside of his teeth as if he wanted to say something, but was holding back. His brow was creased, and he was looking at her chin. She reached up and could feel a small scratch on it, from where he'd grabbed her the night before. She met his eyes and once again saw shame and embarrassment in them.

"What are you thinking about, Booth?"

He looked away and grumbled something.

"What?"

He took a deep breath. "I said it wasn't very romantic."

She thought about that for a moment."You mean last night when I said I loved you, but you didn't?" she asked matter of factly.

He laid his head on the back of her couch and nodded.

"Booth, I don't care about that stuff."

He blushed, "Well…I do."

"So what are you saying?" Now she was confused.

He sighed. "Bones…look, okay? I wanted to tell you I love you, but I wanted to be first, you know."

"Well, you aren't." Obviously, her tone implied.

He rolled his eyes, "I know, Bones… and now. I want to tell you I love you, but I…want it to be perfect, you know? Romantic." He closed his eyes.

"You love me." She repeated.

He stayed silent.

"You love me, but you were waiting for a perfect moment? And now…you don't want to tell me because it's not romantic enough." She wanted to make sure she had it right.

"Something like that, Bones." He looked at her, his expression unreadable.

She looked at him for a moment, then moved the puppy to lay on his chest. She smiled as the puppy burrowed its nose into him, trying to get comfortable.

She got up from the couch and walked over to her front door, opening it and running her hand along the splintered wood in the jamb where he'd busted through.

"You kicked my door in, Booth."

"Oh, yeah, sorry. I'll fix that today, Bones."

"No, I mean, yes, you probably should, but I mean…you kicked my door in."

He paused. "I said I was sorry, Bones."

"No, Booth. You didn't knock, you didn't use the key…" she faced him, "you couldn't wait another second to make sure I was okay, and you kicked it in."

"Yes…I thought you were hurt." What didn't she get?

She walked back over to him and sat next to him, wrapping her arms around his waist and laying her head on his shoulder, mirroring their position from the night before.

"Booth, you couldn't wait another second. So you kicked it in."

"Bones…I don't…I don't get why you keep mentioning that."

"Well…that's pretty romantic, right?" she asked him.

His finger stopped stroking the puppy's head. Without even looking, she could sense his mouth turning up in a smirk. He clicked his tongue against his teeth once.

"Hmmm…yeah, I guess so. Hey, hey, how about that." He pulled the puppy up to his face. "Seeley Booth, at your service..."

She smiled and turned to look at him, resting her chin against his arm.

He looked back at her, a cocky grin now firmly in place. "Romantic." He winked at her.

She laughed and moved her hands to his shoulders, pulling her face closer to his. "Say it, romantic boy."

He laughed and waited for a moment, smiling, making her wait.

She frowned and pinched one of his shoulders. "Say it, Booth."

"Ow, hey…" he looked at the puppy. "She's bossy"

"Booth…" she whined.

"Okay, okay…" He moved his finger along her chin, apologizing again with his eyes. "I love you." He moved his hand to cup her face. "I love you, Bones." He pressed his lips to hers once, "Oh, I love you."

Her hands tightened on his shoulders, and she kissed him back.

After a few moments, she pulled back and smiled.

"What's so funny, Bones?"

"Nothing…I love you."

"I love you too."

She laughed.

"Bones…what?"

"Booth…" she kissed him. "I said it first."

He shook his head. "Well, I've said it more."

"What?" She pulled back.

He laughed. "Come on, Bones…don't do this."

She moved her head back to his shoulder. "Okay…"

She smiled to herself. She was first!


	4. Chapter 4

the last one AKA the 'scooby doo ending' :)

Booth woke up to find her turned toward him. Bones.

Her hands were curled in his shirt, her nose pressed to his throat. He realized his arms were still around her and it took him a moment to fully remember the previous night. He could feel a memory niggling in the back of his mind, and he closed his eyes to try and recall it. His foot was itchy, almost tickly, and he moved his other big toe to try and scratch it. He heard a small growl and his eyes popped open to see a tiny pug sitting on the arm of the couch, his tiny tongue poised near the sole of his foot. Ah yes, the puppy.

Booth looked at it for a moment trying to decide his next course of action. He liked the comfort of this moment with her, liked the way she was sleeping close to him. He could stay like this forever…

Just then the puppy raised one of its back legs and Booth sprang into action.

"Oh…no…"  
He snatched it up as quickly as he could and ran toward the kitchen, leaving behind a trail of squirming puppy drips. At least it wasn't on the couch. He grabbed a couple of paper towels and set the puppy back in the original box while he wiped up the hardwood floor.

When he was done, he spared a glance toward the couch, laughing when he saw she was dead to the world, her hair muffling her snores. He picked up the puppy to go wake her up, and pressed it to his chest.

"Ah…ew…damn it." He pulled the puppy away to see he'd accidentally pressed the puppy, and the puppy's, well…not drips, against the front of his shirt. He pulled the puppy up to look in his eyes. "That's gross. You're gross." The puppy just whimpered.

Booth tucked it into his arm and ran outside for a moment to grab some spare clothes from the SUV, hoping his partner wouldn't wake up when he was gone. He smiled.

Bones…

Haha, she loved him! He'd always known, but…well, he'd known that she didn't know, so it's not like he could just tell her. No, he just waited her out.

Not anymore though, he thought as he reentered her apartment, examining the damage he'd done to her door. He smiled when he remembered the look in her eyes when he'd busted through. She'd liked it when he was fierce! He smirked, tiptoeing once he realized she was still asleep.

He walked to the bathroom and pulled out two towels. Folding one carefully, Booth walked back to the living room where he put it in the bottom of the cardboard box and moved it over to where she was sleeping, placing the puppy inside. He moved to grab the lid for the box and was surprised to see a small, blue envelope taped to the inside. He opened it.

"Interesting." Keeping it in his hand, he picked up the second towel and went back to the bathroom to grab a shower.

Brennan woke up to the sound of growling and cardboard. She sat up, confused. Why was she on the couch? She turned and saw the puppy in the box and the events of the previous night flooded back to her.

Booth.

She remembered telling him she loved him. She groaned. She'd said it twice! Oh well, she'd just have to pretend she didn't mean it. Surely he would believe that she'd just said it in the intensity of the moment.

But where was he? Hadn't he promised he'd stay?

Anger rose within her. She shook her head. Why was she even surprised? Of course, he'd left. Everyone she cared about left her. Why had she thought Booth would be any different? She sighed. At least it would be easy to get him to forget what she'd said. Obviously he hadn't even wanted to be around her for another moment. He'd probably waited until she'd fallen asleep and bolted. She couldn't blame him. She'd practically thrown herself at him.

She looked at the puppy, again, but turned away, finding that she didn't like the hurt now associated with it.

She walked back toward the bathroom to take a shower, maybe clear her thoughts.

She wasn't paying attention, and as she placed her hand on the knob to turn it, she fell forward when the door was pulled open forcefully from the other side, her face pressed against Booth's wet, bare chest.

"Bones…hey! You're awake." He wrapped his arm around her.

"Booth." She muffled, then pulled back, trying to gain some dignity. "What are you doing here?"

He looked at her strangely. "Um, I took a shower. The puppy, well, he did his thing on my shirt this morning, so I jumped into the shower."

She looked at him, not understanding how he could be so comfortable just standing there in a pair of boxers with a towel around his neck.

"Oh…"

"Bones." He tipped her chin up to look at her, and she flinched back, her skin sensitive from the way he'd grabbed her the night before. "Bones, wait." He cupped her face more gently and leaned in. "Ah, Bones, I'm so sorry. I scratched you." He leaned down to kiss the sore spot.

She gasped and whirled around.

"Stop that."

He laughed. "Bones, what is it?" He moved around to look at her.

She didn't meet his eyes and moved to put her back to him again.

"Bones…" he grew serious. "You thought I left you."

She didn't say anything, but moved past him to leave the bathroom.

He grabbed the blue envelope from the sink and chased after her.

"No, NO…no way, Bones…you are not running away from this." He caught up with her and practically tackled her to the couch.

"Booth! Booth…get off of me." She shoved at him, noticing again his clean firm skin.

"No…Bones. Not until you look me in the eye and I know you're convinced that I am not leaving you."

She stopped squirming and looked up at him. His eyes were serious and she moved her hands up to the towel around his neck, pulling it up to gently dry his hair. He must have seen what he wanted to because he used his arms to lever his body off of hers, leaving hers a bit damp and a bit chilled when air moved between them.

He got up off the couch and moved to his bag to pull out a pair of shorts and a t-shirt.

"Look, Booth…last night. It was intense, you know?"

He ignored her and began pulling the clothes over his boxers. She was momentarily distracted by the way his abdominal muscles flexed as he pulled the shirt over his head and when he bent to pull the shorts over his legs.

"Booth…listen. Don't worry. I didn't mean what I said. You don't need to worry about that."

He paused, his hands at the waist of the shorts. "Do I look worried to you, Bones?" Keeping his eyes on hers, he buttoned his shorts and zipped them up.

"Um…no. I just wanted you to know, that, well, I didn't mean it, so you don't need to worry. But, obviously, you aren't worried, so…" She rambled as he moved to sit next to her on the couch, bending over to pull the puppy out of the box before handing her the blue envelope.

"What is this?" she asked.

"Open it."

She moved her fingers under the sides of the envelope and pulled out a small card.

She opened it and skimmed to the bottom.

"Wow"

"I know" he smiled.

She looked back to read Carol Grant's scrawl.

"Dear Aunt Temperance,

My dog had puppies, and I thought you might like one. And now, you have to come see me again so your puppy can see his mom.

Love,

Andy"

She looked up at him, confused.

He pulled the note from her hand and cupped her face, pulling her in to kiss her.

"Booth…wait."

"I've waited long enough, Bones…" He kissed her again, and again.

"Booth…come on…I didn't mean it." What was she saying?

"Sorry, Bones…no changees, no take backs."

She pulled back. He didn't look sorry…

"I thought you said that stuff wasn't real."

He kissed her again, then pulled back.

"Bones. You love me. You are in love with me."

"Booth…"

"No, Bones…it's true. And…I love you. I'm in love with you." He kissed her again, glad when she kissed him back, moving her fingers to his hair.

She pulled back

"Thanks for staying." She gasped

"What?" He could hardly breathe.

She kissed him again. "Thanks for staying last night, like you said you would."

He looked into her eyes. "You're welcome, Bones."

She laughed and kissed him again before standing up and holding out her hand.

"What, Bones?" He would have been happy to sit there forever.

"Well, we have to go to the store and get supplies for our puppy. He can't just live in that

box forever."

"Our puppy, huh?" he placed his hand in hers.

She stood for a moment, nervous.

He stood and let go of her hand, moving it to wrap his arm around her waist, pulling her close and holding the pug up with one hand up to their faces.

"We have a puppy, Bones."


End file.
